AppManager

AppManager is a GTK/Libadwaita developed desktop utility in Vala that makes installing and uninstalling AppImages on Linux desktop painless. Double-click any .AppImage to open a macOS-style drag-and-drop window, just drag to install and AppManager will move the app, wire up desktop entries, and copy icons.

Features

• Drag-and-drop installer - mimics the familiar macOS Applications install flow.
• Smart install modes - can choose between portable (move the AppImage) and extracted (unpack to ~/Applications/.installed/AppRun) while letting you override it.
• Desktop integration - extracts the bundled .desktop file via 7z or dwarfs, rewrites Exec and Icon, and stores it in ~/.local/share/applications.
• Simple uninstall - right click in app drawer and choose Move to Trash, can uninstall in AppManager or simply delete from ~/Applications folder.
• Install registry + preferences - main window lists installed apps, default mode, and cleanup behaviors, all stored with GSettings.
• Background update checks - optional portal-backed checks with user-granted permission, interval control, and a notification when updates are found.

Requirements

• valac, meson, ninja
• Libraries: libadwaita-1, gtk4, gio-2.0, glib-2.0, json-glib-1.0, gee-0.8, libsoup-3.0, libportal (>= 0.6), libportal-gtk4 (>= 0.6)
• Runtime tools: 7z/p7zip-full, dwarfs, dwarfsextract

Install

Download latest app version and run self install, for example:

chmod +x app-manager-1.0.0-beta-x86_64.AppImage
./app-manager-1.0.0-beta-x86_64.AppImage --install app-manager-1.0.0-beta-x86_64.AppImage

Build

Install development dependencies

(click to open)

Install the development packages required to build AppManager on each distribution:

• Debian / Ubuntu:

sudo apt install valac meson ninja-build pkg-config libadwaita-1-dev libgtk-4-dev libglib2.0-dev libjson-glib-dev libgee-0.8-dev libgirepository1.0-dev libsoup-3.0-dev libportal-dev libportal-gtk4-dev p7zip-full

• Fedora:

sudo dnf install vala meson ninja-build gtk4-devel libadwaita-devel glib2-devel json-glib-devel libgee-devel libsoup3-devel libportal-devel p7zip p7zip-plugins

• Arch Linux / Manjaro:

sudo pacman -S vala meson ninja gtk4 libadwaita glib2 json-glib gee libsoup libportal p7zip

Default setup

meson setup build

Or if you prefer user Home install

meson setup build --prefix=$HOME/.local

Build and install

meson compile -C build
meson install -C build

CLI helpers

• Install an AppImage: app-manager --install /path/to/app.AppImage
• Uninstall by path or checksum: app-manager --uninstall /path/or/checksum
• Check if installed: app-manager --is-installed /path/to/app.AppImage
• Run a background update check: app-manager --background-update
• Show version or help: app-manager --version / app-manager --help

License

GPL-3.0-or-later. See LICENSE.